Diabetes mellitus is a carbohydrate metabolism disorder (genetic or lifestyle causes), resulting in high blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia), due to either defects in insulin secretion (Type 1) or insulin action (type 2 and gestational). The acute signs of diabetes are excessive urination, excessive thirst, impaired vision, weight loss, and tiredness. Insulin injection is the general treatment for type 1 diabetes, while type 2 can be controlled through diet, exercise, medications and insulin supplementation.
Diabetes complications include hypoglycemia, ketoacidosis, or nonketotic hyperosmolar coma (acute) and dangerous long-term complications such as cardiovascular disease (doubled risk), chronic renal failure, retinal damage (leading to blindness), nerve damage, and microvascular damage (leading to erectile dysfunction) and poor wound healing (leading to gangrene and possibly amputation). Adequate control of blood sugar, blood pressure and body weight, can improve the risk of diabetic complications. Diabetes is the main cause of non-elderly adult blindness, non-traumatic amputation, and renal malfunction. Diabetes causes increased protein glycation and the formation of early glycation products and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) which are major factors responsible for the complications of diabetes.
Metabolites from some plants have been proven to possess anti-diabetic properties. A few anti-diabetic products containing plant metabolites as the active ingredients have been developed. For example, polyphenol product extracted from green tea (Polyphenon 60) and antiglycation agent (aminoguanidine) are commercially available. Guava leaf extracts, gallic acid, catechin and quercetin are potent antiglycation agents, which can be of great value in the preventive glycation-associated complications in diabetes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,984,666 provides a novel method for the preparation of a unique profile of primary aliphatic alcohols, having 24 to 30 carbon atoms, from the wax secreted by the insect Ericerus pela. The polycosanol composition is comprised primarily of the four primary aliphatic alcohols, tetracosanol, hexacosanol, octacosanol and triacontanol, for use in the prevention and treatment of obesity, syndrome X, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, atherosclerotic complications, ischemia and thrombosis.
WO 2008134828 discloses a method for obtaining stable pharmaceutically acceptable salts of isolated or essentially pure diterpenoic tetrahydropyran, such as steviol-19-glucuronide, steviol, stevioside and rebaudioside in the treatment of cardiovascular disorders or vascular disease.
WO 2008059310 and WO 2008142702 provide a method for producing water based herbal extracts from Cinnamomun zeylanioum plant species with hypoglycemic activity, for prevention or management of diabetes by inhibiting the glucose absorption in the intestine and by mimicking and potentiating the insulin activity.
EP 1738658 claims a composition for inhibiting hyperglycaemia and AGE (advanced glycated end products) generation made from an acerola leaf extract and/or a processed product thereof.
EP 1331858 provides a source of delta-tocotrienol and/or -tocopherol acts synergistically with an antioxidant source comprising polyphenols, to effect suppression of LDL oxidation in serum. The combination of these two antioxidant sources has wide-ranging applications in treatment of medical conditions arising from free radical generation, including arteriosclerosis and cancer.
WO 2006053379 discloses a nutraceutical composition including one or more extracts of one or more plant components, the one or more extracts providing a combination of phytonutrient materials, the type and amount of which are in excess of a minimum value predetermined to provide a therapeutically or prophylactically desirable effect.